Dumbledore was exhausted.
More precisely, ever since Klein had revealed his true strength, he'd been exhausted.
What a mess.
For decades, Old Deng had trodden carefully on thin ice to keep the Magical World peaceful and stable.
He'd even been willing to put duty before family.
He'd never imagined that, in his old age, he'd still get pecked in the eye by a sparrow.
"Why don't you just burn this old man to a crisp with Fiendfyre?"
When Dumbledore heard that Klein not only hadn't escaped his troublesome identity but had also put on quite a "show" at the Ministry of Magic, he fell silent for a long, long time.
The atmosphere remained awkward for a long, long time.
Finally, the old man cleared his throat and made his request with utmost sincerity.
There was no managing this kid anymore. Out of sight, out of mind~
"Uh, Headmaster, that joke isn't funny at all."
Klein gave an awkward laugh and guiltily avoided the other man's gaze.
He swore to heaven that this time, "Keke really had nothing to do with it"!
Who could've guessed that old Fudge would be such a coward?
Even a turtle pulling into its shell wasn't that bad.
"There's no putting things right now. After this, given Cornelius's personality, he'll definitely join forces with the other countries' Ministries of Magic to deal with Soren. Once your identity is exposed..."
Dumbledore had once been Old Fudge's advisor, after all. He knew the Minister's temperament all too well.
He was both arrogant and insecure.
When Soren's threat became too much to imagine, Dumbledore knew Cornelius Fudge would definitely back down.
In other words, he'd chicken out.
But they couldn't just ignore Soren's threat, so there was only one way to deal with it.
Ask for help.
Join forces